Poll Analysis: Romney slips

Ten days ago, Mitt Romney was on a roll. He had increased his probability of beating President Obama in a hypothetical election held then from 0.4% to 0.8%, and he gained in expected electoral votes up to 225. That was last week. This week, Romney slips.

New England states—Romney’s home turf—don’t seem particularly sold on the G.O.P. nominee. If he had dreams of taking Maine, this poll dashes them. Obama leads by +14%. In fact, Obama has had a good lead in every poll since last October. New Hampshire has Obama up by +5% over Romney. Obama has now led in three consecutive polls in the state going back to April.

Nebraska is exactly what we would expect, but there are a few other interesting polls out of the Midwest. Iowa gives Obama a slim lead over Romney by +1%, but polls have been bouncing between Obama and Romney.

In Wisconsin, Obama leads by +6% and trails by -3% in the two new polls. Overall, it sure looks like Obama has been slipping as the election season progresses:

Four polls have been released for Michigan in the past 10 days. Obama gets a +1% and +8% in two, and Romney gets a +1.4% and +2% in two. The weight of the six polls taken over the past month give the advantage to Obama, who would be expected to win the state with a 90% probability right now. What is clear, is that Obama’s big lead early in the year has shrunk:

The mountain states show mixed results. Montana is still solid for Romney. Arizona gives Romney a frail +3% lead over Obama, and the collection of recent polls gives Romney the slightest edge in the state. The total polling history also suggests Romney has held a small lead for a long time:

Obama dominates in Colorado with +7%. But the other recent polling suggests a tight race in the state (even though Romney has yet to lead in a single poll):

The Nevada poll has Obama up by +6% over Romney. So far, Romney has only led in one poll, and that was back in April…of 2011:

Recent Florida polls have bounced from Romeny to Obama. This time Obama takes a +4% lead. Looking at the recent polling results, Florida is truly a toss-up:

No surprises out of New Jersey, where Obama holds double-digit lead.

Obama leads in both new Washington polls, with one single and one double digit lead.

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Gee, wasn’t it just yesterday that some news outlets were claiming that Romney was essentially “even” with the President due to the faltering economic recovery? I think Daryl’s right, but over the next few months we will probably be getting competing poll numbers bandied about by both sides in a mash-up attempt to obtain the “peer pressure” advantage.

Sometimes it helps, of course, if the news media isn’t content to let Romney’s lies go unreported. For example, on NPR yesterday evening, they played a rather long clip of Romney complaining about the President not passing immigration reform, then the commentator pointed out that it took a lot of chutzpah (his word) for Romney to say that, knowing full well that the Dream Act hadn’t passed due to Republican obstructionism in the Senate. In another story, a commentator pointed out that the Democrats didn’t hold a super-majoirty in both houses for two years – they held a sixty-seat majority only for a four or five months, due to the delay in getting Frankin confirmed and seated, followed shortly thereafter by the death of Edward Kennedy.

Clarifications such as that will encourage indedendent thought and diminish the Republicans attempt to use “peer pressure” (i.e., selective pollling) to get voters to vote Republican.

Darryl’s poll data includes results as much as one month old. Given Obama’s horrible June, a lot of the slide he has experienced either isn’t reflected in the poll because a lot of states haven’t been polled recently, or if they have been polled whatever slide Obama has experienced is averaged with his late May poll results.

Enjoy this result but don’t place too much emphasis on it. Obama’s got plenty of reason for concern going forward, including his hemorrhaging of white support (which probably won’t be buffered by an increased minority turnout):

On the other hand, the Gallup poll only surveyed 2,200 people. My results are based on 52,246 responses….

“Given Obama’s horrible June, a lot of the slide he has experienced either isn’t reflected in the poll because a lot of states haven’t been polled recently, or if they have been polled whatever slide Obama has experienced is averaged with his late May poll results.”

But, but, but…the states that HAVE been polled recently suggest Obama has been gaining over the past 10 days. Go figger!?!

I was responding to a commenter, not arguing whether a national poll is representative when a state electoral count and not popular count is used to decide an election.

@ 20

Yup. Noticed that as well. I don’t have an explanation. Haven’t looked carefully enough to come up with a reason. I have a hard time believing that Obama is gaining with all that badness that has befallen him this month. Romney’s negatives don’t seem to be increasing so he may be losing some prior independents. Do you have an explanation, Figgerer Darryl?

IF NH had gone to Gore, he would have won. Of course it doesn’t apply to this election as demographics change…however, history is always worthy of a quick peek. I know it’s painful for you to re-live the agony of 2000 and the woes of the goofiest and greatest enviro-scammer in the history of the Universe..but give it a shot.

Obama simply cannot get beyond 45-48% approval in National Polls. Darryl is right, Obama could still win the Electoral College vote, lose the National Popular Vote and then he is President. But if Obama loses by 3-4% National, the odds of that happening are miniscule considering the overwhelming support Obama gets in California and NY. Concede those 2 states to Obama, pull out Texas for Romney and Obama is very unpopular in the remaining 47. It’s fun playing around with polls and statistics. However, it will come down to momentum in November. And keep in mind the undecideds historically break against the incumbent when momentum is poor. Plus I read some of Darryl’s prior comments which are spot on. This is about a “snapshot” in time. A compilation of many polls, some of which have little or no past credibility. But it’s still fun. Kind of like arguing who will win the World Series or Super Bowl this year and going thru lots of stats to prove your case. Have fun.

I think this is pretty much right on. If Romney doesn’t carry Ohio & Florida, he has virtually no chance. That’s why Rubio is a great choice. But even if Romney carries these, he still has lots of work to do. I certainly agree the incumbent will be difficult to beat. But taking a step back, a ,3% chance seems mighty low. Does anyone care to give me 333-1 odds today??

I’ll put up $100. If Obama wins, you get it. If I win, you owe me $33,300. That’s how oddsmaking works, right? Any takers??

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